


Sentenced To Be With You

by isnt_that_wizard



Series: We'll Always Be More Than A Band (JATP) [8]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex Loves Willie, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fear of Homophobia, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Holding Hands, Idiots in Love, Illegal Activities, Love Confessions, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Minor Angst, No ghosts AU, Very Minor, Willie gets them in trouble, Willie is a Good Boyfriend, Willie loves Alex, anxious alex, can be read without the rest of the series, even if he's kind of foolish, for breaking into a museum, holding cells, it's mostly just alex being mad at willie, no ghosts, pure fluff my dudes, soft boyfriends, the museum scene if they weren't ghosts, they get arrested sort of, this shit got so sappy in the second chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:08:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26939380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isnt_that_wizard/pseuds/isnt_that_wizard
Summary: “Well, this is a nice change of scenery.” Willie breathed out, flipping his hair over his shoulder with a dramatic flourish as he sat down on the cold, metal bench. Alex pushed himself off the metal bars, spinning around to glare at his boyfriend.“We’re in a holding cell, Willie!” he exclaimed, gesturing around them.“Baby, I was being sarcastic.” Willie responded placatingly, holding his hand out towards Alex.----------When Willie and Alex get caught having snuck into a closed museum, they are placed in a holding cell until someone can come pick them up.can be read without the rest of the series
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Series: We'll Always Be More Than A Band (JATP) [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956307
Comments: 39
Kudos: 460
Collections: Willex Stories! (JATP), oh YES





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has now been altered to fit into my A World Without Ghosts series! I added paragraphs and some more information to this first chapter, but this fic can overall be read almost completely without knowing anything about the other installments in this series. There will be a few confusing sentences, but overall this can be read as just a cute little Willex fic. Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, this is a nice change of scenery.” Willie breathed out, slipping his hair over his shoulder with a dramatic flourish as he sat down on the cold, metal bench. Alex pushed himself off the metal bars, spinning around to glare at his boyfriend.
> 
> “We’re in a holding cell, Willie!” he exclaimed, gesturing around them. 
> 
> “Baby, I was being sarcastic.” Willie responded placatingly, holding his hand out towards Alex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: mentions of homophobic/absent parents, mentions of being arrested

“Well, this is a nice change of scenery.” Willie breathed out, slipping his hair over his shoulder with a dramatic flourish as he sat down on the cold, metal bench. Alex pushed himself off the metal bars, spinning around to glare at his boyfriend.

“We’re in a holding cell, Willie!” he exclaimed, gesturing around them. 

“Baby, I was being sarcastic.” Willie responded placatingly, holding his hand out towards Alex. Alex pursed his lips, but took his hand anyway and allowed Willie to pull him down on the bench next to him. As angry and anxious as he was, the feeling of his boyfriend’s arm against his and the weight of his hand in his palm was admittedly calming. Didn’t mean he wasn’t still pissed as all hell at Willie, though.

“This is your fault, you know,” he spit out sharply, a far angrier than he meant it. 

“To be fair, I do know that.”

Alex was glad to hear that Willie wasn’t taking his upset tone too much to heart. Willie always had a knack for knowing when Alex didn’t mean what he was saying. Still, Willie looked bashful and sorry next to Alex. 

“I can’t  _ believe  _ I let you talk me into breaking into a museum!”

“ _ Hey-  _ I told you, we didn’t break in. My cousin works there, we just borrowed his pass.”

“You  _ stole  _ his pass,” Alex shot back. Willie opened his mouth to respond, then shut it again, looking down at the ground in front of him. Alex made a point to not look at him. 

Alex had never been a rule breaker; Willie  _ knew  _ that. It made his hands clammy, his pulse race, and his mind anxious. Yet he’d used those stupid puppy dog eyes and glowing smile he knew Alex couldn’t resist, and convinced him that going to a closed down museum-  _ in the middle of the day _ \- was a decision that made sense. They’d gotten in using Willie’s cousin’s security pass- he worked the front help desk at the museum. Alex had told him no so many times, had tried to turn them around every block or so on the way there, but Willie had insisted they would be fine. 

They got caught, because of course they did, standing in a closed down part of the exhibit while Willie was trying to jump over a large bench with his skateboard. Alex had actually cried when the security guard came into the exhibit, asking what the hell they thought they were doing. Willie, who was usually the best smooth talker Alex knew, had tried to talk them out of it, but it hadn’t worked a bit. So now they were sat side by side in the holding cell of their local police precinct. 

“I’m mad at you,” Alex whispered despite still holding onto Willie’s hand. 

“I know you are,” his boyfriend replied quietly. 

After a few moments’ silence, Willie spoke again.

“I’m really sorry, Alex.”

“I know you are.”

Alex released a long sigh, falling sideways to rest his head on Willie’s shoulder. Willie subconsciously shifted to make Alex more comfortable, resting his head on top of Alex’s. He and Willie had been together five months now, ever since that day Willie had skated to avoid a dog and hit  _ him  _ instead, then offered to buy him ice cream to make up for it. 

The cop who had grabbed them had been nice enough, at least. He’d assured them that they weren’t actually being charged with anything and since Alex was still a minor and Willie’s cousin had been called and insisted that yes, he had given them his security pass- he hadn’t, and Alex was going to make Willie send him a freaking fruit basket or something for defended them anyway- they were being let off with a warning. Willie was 18 and so easily could have been charged, so really, they just got lucky. They just had to wait here until someone came to pick them up. 

“Did you call your parents?” Willie asked after a while. Against his shoulder, Alex let out a scoff. 

“Are you kidding me? I’m planning on them never finding out anything about this. Sneaking into a museum and getting put in a holding cell is one thing- sneaking into a museum and getting put in a holding cell with my  _ boyfriend?  _ I think they’d actually disown me.”

Willie hummed in response, squeezing Alex’s hand. Alex’s parents had done an excellent job these past two years in pretending that their eldest son barely existed. They’d finally gotten over the discussions of trying to convince him that he wasn’t really gay or that they could “fix” this, and just moved on to ignoring him. Willie, Luke, Reggie, and Julie all hated that fact, but Alex thought it for the best. The more fighting, the more he worried about them kicking him out. It wouldn’t be terrible if they did for a living situation; every one of his friends had offered to put him up if the need ever arose. Ray already had two members of the band living with him already, and Luke’s parents had always loved Alex like he was their own. But Alex would rather his parents never speak to him again than kick him out and keep him from his siblings. His brother and sister, Chase and Maggie, meant everything to him. 

“What about you? Did you call your parents?”

Alex felt Willie shake his head. “They’re on a cruise around Hawaii. They won’t be back for like a month.”

Alex frowned, sitting up to look at his boyfriend. Willie looked so nonchalant about it. 

“You didn’t tell me that.” 

Willie just shrugged. 

“Babe. . .”

“Alex, it’s fine. You know they’re out of town more often than they’re here.”

Alex pursed his lips a little bit, but slumped back down to resume his spot against Willie’s shoulder. In the months they’d been together, Alex had never even seen Willie’s parents. Apparently they’d been around plenty when Willie was a kid, working 9 to 5 jobs, taking their only son to his skateboarding competitions on the weekend. When Willie was 13, however, his grandmother had died and left her daughter, Willie’s mother, with a sizable inheritance. By all means, Alex’s family was wealthy. They had the biggest house in the neighborhood, Alex’s car was nicer than pretty much anyone he knew at school, his parents were members of a freaking country club. To say Willie’s grandmother made Alex’s parents seem like they were average at best was not an exaggeration. Willie’s mother had two siblings, so she didn’t get all the money, but she still had as much, if not more, than Alex’s family. 

Willie had told Alex that he’d never once cared about the money, and he never even asked his parents for any; he’d far preferred to live off his allowance and money won from competitions until he could get his own job and earn his own. Willie’s parents, on the other hand, had taken the money as an early retirement. They took vacations, a very late honeymoon, spent money on more frivolous things, and were not home as often as they were before. They weren’t neglectful of him, Willie had insisted when Alex had first heard this and expressed concern. They offered to take him on every single trip, came home for almost every big competition Willie had for skateboarding, and were always a phone call away if Willie needed them. Still, Alex knew that Willie got lonely a lot of the time. He wanted his parents home like they used to be. But his boyfriend was constantly passing it off, making it no big deal, and keeping his easy, go-with-the-flow, “hippie”, as Flynn had affectionately called him, attitude. 

If Willie didn’t want to talk about it and was passing it off that his parents were gone even though Alex knew that Willie  _ did _ have a big competition next weekend- Alex was dragging the whole band with him to support Willie- Alex wasn’t going to press. Not today, anyway. 

“Please tell me you called  _ someone _ , though,” Willie said a moment later, a bit of humor laced through his voice. “I really don’t want to get stuck here until they get sick of us and just let us go.”

Alex laughed silently against Willie, minutely nodding his head. “Yeah, I called Luke. We’re not being charged with anything, so they’ll release us to him. He’s on his way- he had my car today anyway.”

Willie sagged into him just a little with relief, and Alex felt him press a kiss to his hair. 

“I really am sorry, Alex. I know you didn’t want to, and I should have just listened. I just thought that. . . maybe- you’re always so nervous when we go out in public together, and I get that! I do. Your parents are homophobic jerks, and even in 2020 people still aren’t great. I feel like that, too, you know I do. But both our houses are out of the question, and your studio always seems to have someone from the band there. . . I thought maybe a big, empty museum would be a good place for us to just  _ be,  _ you know? No one around- just us.”

Alex stayed quiet for a minute. 

“But I know it was stupid,” Willie continued. “And I’m really sorry.”

Alex shifted his head so he could look at his boyfriend’s face. Willie looked sad. Apologetic, and a bit sorrowful. Alex couldn’t help but think- as he always did- that he looked beautiful. His hand felt like a missing puzzle piece as it held Alex’s. This boy- this wonderful, caring, beautiful boy- was Alex’s. It took his breath away each and every time he remembered that he got to call Willie his boyfriend. His  _ boyfriend! _ And he, however foolish it had been, had been far more thoughtful than Alex had realized when he stole his cousin’s security pass. A small, goofy smile formed on his lips. 

“I love you,” Alex whispered, resting only his chin on Willie’s shoulder now. 

Willie’s head turned quicker than Alex thought he’d ever seen before as he looked at Alex. With Alex’s position, their faces were barely an inch apart, which caused their noses to brush up against each other. Willie had a happy smile on his face, one that Alex was tempted to lean forward and kiss. 

“You know, when we get out of here, you’re really going to regret telling me you love me for the first time in a  _ holding cell _ .”

Alex laughed into the space between them, leaning forward ever so slightly to ghost his lips just away from Willie’s.

“That was supposed to be the part where you tell me you love me, too.”

Willie smirked, though it was hard to see with how close their faces were. 

“I love you, Alex,” Willie said, before closing the space between them and kissing Alex sweetly. 

The kiss was short and sweet, and Alex darted forward to press one more quick one to Willie’s lips as they pulled away before saying, “The next time I tell you we shouldn’t sneak in somewhere, we’re not doing it, okay?”

His teasing tone made Willie laugh as he nodded. 

“But I really appreciate you trying to find a place for us like that,” Alex tacked on, reaching his free hand up and running it through Willie’s long, soft hair. Willie smiled softly at him, in a way Alex had grown accustomed was only ever directed at him. One day, on a double date with Julie and Luke, the couple had dubbed it his “Alex Smile”. Willie raised their intertwined hands and pressed a kiss to Alex’s fingers. 

“It was kind of fun, though, right?” Willie asked shyly, looking at Alex through a few strands of hair that had fallen in front of his face. “Until the whole getting caught part?”

Alex rolled his eyes, biting back a smile. “Don’t push your luck, skater boy- I’m still mad at you.” 

A moment later, “But yes. It was kind of fun.”

Willie looked pleased at that, nodding his head once and saying nothing more. They resituated themselves, leaning against each other again with heads tucked against each other, arms pressed together, and hands and legs overlapping. They sat like that, wrapped around each other on the uncomfortable holding cell bench, waiting until Luke showed up to take them home. 


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, well, well. Look at these hardened criminals. What will Julie have to say about this, I wonder?”
> 
> Leaning against the bars on the other side, a wide smirk with an exaggerated shake of the head, was Luke. He was trying to look at them sternly, his eyebrows down in a frown and one hand on his hip, but the glint in his eyes betrayed his act. Alex narrowed his eyes at his best friend, ignoring the quiet snicker from Willie next to him. 
> 
> “Nothing. Julie is going to have nothing to say about this because you’re not going to tell her, Lucas.”

A bang against the bars of their cell had Alex shooting upright, his eyes opening wide at the surprise. 

“Well, well, well. Look at these hardened criminals. What will Julie have to say about this, I wonder?”

Leaning against the bars on the other side, a wide smirk with an exaggerated shake of the head, was Luke. He was trying to look at them sternly, his eyebrows down in a frown and one hand on his hip, but the glint in his eyes betrayed his act. Alex narrowed his eyes at his best friend, ignoring the quiet snicker from Willie next to him. 

“Nothing. Julie is going to have _nothing_ to say about this because you’re not going to tell her, _Lucas.”_

Luke rolled his eyes, “Really, _Alexander,_ like eight years of friendship and that is still not my damn name.”

Alex opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off by Willie’s hand on his arm. 

“Okay, okay, we get it- you both love to torture the other with full names that aren’t on your birth certificates. Can we get out of here now?”

At the thought of being able to leave, Alex forgot all about bantering back and forth with Luke. They’d been here for what felt like an eternity, this stupid, small metal bench was hurting his body, and Alex would like to never feel what the inside of a holding cell was like ever again. Luke rolled his eyes, but smiled and nodded. 

“Yeah, I’ll go grab the officer with the key to let you guys out.”

The guitarist was laughing to himself as he wandered off, leaving Willie and Alex alone once more. Alex fully detangled himself from Willie- their hands were still intertwined, Willie had an ankle hooked over Alex’s- and stretched as he stood up, grimacing at the way his back popped. 

“Glad _he_ finds this so funny,” the drummer snarked, watching as Willie stood to stretch as well. As he did, the skater’s blue and yellow crop top rode up in a way that had Alex blushing and looking away. It was ridiculous, he thought; less than an hour ago he’d admitted to being in love with him and now he was blushing over the sight of his boyfriend’s abs? Get a grip, Alex. 

Willie, though- Willie just smirked, like he knew exactly what he’d just done. Alex rolled his eyes at his boyfriend, but didn’t back away as Willie looped his arms around Alex’s waist. 

“You’re real lucky you’re cute, you know that?” Alex asked, arms coming around Willie’s neck. “If you weren’t then you wouldn’t be getting away with any of this shit as easily- the breaking and entering, getting arrested. . .”

Willie’s smirk grew wider, and Alex could feel him go up on his toes just ever so slightly to kiss him chastely. “Pretty sure I’m getting away with all that because you love me.”

Alex blushed harder now, but he didn’t shy away, just smiling like a dork at the words. God, he really did love him. So much had gone down since the summer. Bobby stealing their songs, almost getting killed by hot dogs, the fight to get Reggie away from his ever-feuding parents, the complete and utter annoyance of watching Julie and Luke dance around each other, and not to mention the general stress of his junior year of high school where he’d piled on AP classes in hopes of pleasing his parents, was taking extra credits as part of the music program, and having to live out dramatic high school life. Willie had been a star in his sky from the moment they’d met. Julie, Luke, and Reggie were all amazing and made his life so much better than he could possibly imagine, but Willie was just something else. 

Willie took him on silly little dates that left Alex smiling wider than he thought possible. The skater came to every single gig the band ever booked, even if it was just the stupid Valentine’s Day dance. Willie had memorized Alex’s favorite coffee order and what he always got at Taco Bell and exactly what topping he got on frozen yogurt or ice cream and would surprise Alex with them by showing up at Los Feliz to pick Alex up from school or by bringing them to band practice to remind Alex that he needed to take a break before he hurt his hands. Willie knew all about Alex’s struggles with his parents- the skateboarder practically steamed from the ears every time Alex told him about some new argument or homophobic words- and he loved Alex’s younger siblings. Alex’s wonderful, caring, loving boyfriend had never treated Alex’s anxiety like it was something wrong with him or something he didn’t know how to deal with, but rather like it was just another part of Alex for him “to fall for”. Alex found out about two months into their relationship- the first time he’d had a panic attack in front of Willie- that Willie had gone to Reggie and Luke to ask them what helped Alex feel calmest and safest when he was anxious. 

Willie also let Alex do the same for him. The skater was so happy and go-with-the-flow, but he was so closed off at the same time. Once his parents had started leaving him alone more and more, Willie had hardened a little bit, and he wasn’t so open with people as he’d been when he was younger. But Willie let Alex in, and he let him see the parts of him he’d rather keep closed off. Alex knew that Willie hated being home alone so he took more shifts at his job- the Hollywood Ghost Club- than any 18 year old should be working. He knew that after he’d graduated high school Willie hadn’t even bothered applying to colleges because he didn’t think his grades weren’t good enough to get in, and he really hated school anyway. Alex went to every skating competition Willie had, and he brought him a bouquet of flowers for every one- even if Willie lost. Alex knew what his favorite type of donut was, he’d memorized his overly complicated Subway order, and even though Alex made fun of him relentlessly for it, Alex still kept a box of Cosmic Brownies in his car because they were Willie’s favorite snack.

Looking back on the past five months, Alex knew there was no way in hell he couldn’t have fallen head over heels in love with Willie. It was one of those things that was completely, hopelessly, thankfully unavoidable. Alex wasn’t superstitious and he didn’t believe in fate, but he also thought that there were three things in his life that were the closest to fate as he could possibly get. 

1\. His siblings- both his two biological ones and the brothers and sister he’d found on his own

2\. The formation of Julie and the Phantoms

3\. Meeting Willie

“I really do love you,” Alex whispered, causing Willie to trade in his teasing smirk for a sappy grin. 

“Love you, too, drummer boy.”

As Alex ducked down to press a kiss to Willie’s cheek, Luke finally returned, a police officer in toe. Luke had Willie’s skateboard under one arm, Alex’s fanny pack slung over the other, and Alex’s car keys dangling from his fingers. The laughter was still evident in his eyes as the officer unlocked the cell, telling Alex and Willie that they were free to go. Alex smiled shyly and gratefully, releasing his loose hold on Willie and moving swiftly out of the cell. He could feel Luke and Willie following behind him, and Willie was quick to catch up, taking Alex’s hand. As they made their way out of the police station- Alex could see his car parked in the lot not far from the entrance- Luke hummed and whistled happily. Alex let out a sigh, hanging his head as they walked.

“You’re never going to let this go, are you?”

Luke had a bright smile on his lips and he clapped Alex on the shoulder. “Absolutely not.”

“Do Julie and Reggie already know?”

Luke raised an eyebrow. “Reggie does- he was with me when you called. As for Julie. . . well, I guess that’s up to you, buddy.”

Alex narrowed his eyes, staring at Luke quizzically. Willie was silent next to him, content to swing their joint hands back and forth and watch the scene play out. 

“What do you mean?” Alex reluctantly inquired. Luke got a conniving grin on his face. 

“I won’t tell Julie. . . _if_ you let me borrow your car on Saturday next weekend.”

They’d reached the car by now, and rather than just waiting for Alex and Luke’s stare-down to be over, Willie just plucked the keys out of Luke’s hand, popping open the trunk to stick his board in there and humming happily when he found the box of Cosmic Brownies. Alex stood with his arms crossed as he looked at Luke, not paying much attention to the sound of Willie getting into the passenger seat of the car and starting the engine. 

“No. No way, man. Last time I let you borrow my car for a date- dude, don’t start, this is obviously for a date with Julie- you wrecked my suspension and the brakes squeaked for a month. That was expensive as hell to fix, man.”

Luke looked guilty for a split second, but covered it as he said, “Listen, if you want me to tell Julie all about you breaking into a museum and having to get picked up from jail, that’s fine by me. I’ll just sit by and watch as she tears you a new one.”

Julie’s wrath really wasn’t something to be trifled with. The girl was like his and Reggie’s little sister, and all three of them would give up their lives for her in a heartbeat, but when she was mad at you? You just straight up wished you’d never been born. Alex could imagine exactly how it would go if she found out he and Willie had gotten picked up by the police. First it would be disbelief, then a lecture on recklessness and why all the men in her life were dumb as a broken guitar string, then a little bit of yelling, then fussing over him and Willie both- as much as everyone liked to tease him for being the Mom Friend, Julie had him beat by a mile- and then just relentless teasing for longer than he could imagine. She’d find out eventually, he knew; it would be impossible for Reggie and Luke to keep it quiet, but Alex wanted to delay it as long as possible. 

“Or- if you tell Julie, I’ll tell her all about your 15th birthday party.”

Luke immediately went red, mouth dropping open a little bit. Alex smirked in victory, raising an eyebrow in challenge to his best friend. Luke pursed his lips. 

“Okay. Negotiations will be continued later,” Luke said, as close to conceding as Alex was going to get from him right now. Alex nodded, and the two boys turned away from each other, moving to get into the car. Alex took the driver’s seat, and Luke slipped into the back. While waiting for them, Willie had turned on the radio and was quietly humming along to the song playing. He smiled brightly as Alex got into the car, and Alex could see the smudges of chocolate from his brownie at the corner of his mouth. Alex shook his head, grabbing a napkin from the cupholders to wipe the residue away before pressing a kiss to the same spot. Willie’s cheeks tinted pink. 

Behind them, Alex could hear Luke pretending to gag and shot him a middle finger as he slipped his seat belt on and put the car in reverse. Luke just stuck out his tongue in return, visible in the rearview mirror. They drove in silence for a few minutes, Willie humming along to the radio and tapping his fingers to the beat against Alex’s thigh, and Luke playing with his phone in the back. 

“Hey, Luke?” Alex said quietly, glancing at his brother in the mirror. The tone he gave him was serious for the first time since Luke had picked them up. Luke glanced up, a small smile on his face that told Alex he’d received a text from either Julie or Reggie. Judging by the way Alex’s phone buzzed in his pocket, it was probably one of them sending a meme to the band group chat. 

“Thank you. For picking us up.”

Luke’s face softened a little bit, and Willie echoed Alex’s sentiments. 

“Yeah, of course. Couldn’t exactly leave you to rot in jail now, could I?”

Just like that, the serious spell had been broken. 

“We were _not_ in jail, okay? Just holding-”

“And why is that again, Alex? Oh yeah, you broke into a museum-!”

“Hey! We didn’t break in- my cousin-”

“Willie, babe, don’t start that again, _please_ -”

“Bro, that literally doesn’t make it any better, you and Alex totally got caught and-”

The rest of the car ride was filled with banter and arguing from all of them. They were still going at it when they pulled up to the Molina house, where Reggie was eagerly awaiting to hear the full story and Julie was thankfully absent, out with Flynn for the day. But even as Alex assigned blame to Willie and the skater tried to back his way out of it, they almost immediately moved to each other’s sides, intertwining their fingers and leaning into each other’s shoulders. Alex couldn’t help but consistently feel in awe at how perfectly they seemed to fit together. He couldn’t believe that this was his life, that Willie was his boyfriend, and that he had the best band in the world, that even though he had shitty parents he had a big, stupid, ridiculous, utterly adoring family made up of the most important people in his life. 

Breaking into a museum was maybe the stupidest thing he’d ever done, but he’d done it with Willie and come home to his family, so maybe he could forget that part. That seemed reasonable enough to him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the bonus chapter for this fic!! I wrote the first chapter a while ago, but I realized how well it fit into the A World Without Ghost universe, so I added it in! The bonus chapter is because I felt bad that I didn't have anything new for this week, so I threw in what might possibly be the fluffiest, sappiest shit I have ever written. I hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


End file.
